


"How many times would you say you've been in love?"

by PommeDeTorterra



Category: New Mutants (Comics), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Light Angst, M/M, Pining, Space Angst, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:02:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22816699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PommeDeTorterra/pseuds/PommeDeTorterra
Summary: lol hickman ripped out my heart yesterdayRoberto's POV during the closing conversation of New Mutants #7.I'd apologize, but I'm not sorry.
Relationships: Roberto da Costa/Sam Guthrie, Sam Guthrie/Izzy Kane
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	"How many times would you say you've been in love?"

"How many times would you say you've been in love?"

Pfft, easy setup. Roberto couldn't keep the grin from his face as he started to reply. " _Well_ , Sam, that depends on-"

"Not counting yourself." Sam's grin matched his own, though maybe, if Roberto absolutely _had_ to read it accurately, there was perhaps a touch of exasperation. Fond exasperation, though, which barely even counted as exasperation at all. Yeah, Roberto figured, "fond" was definitely the operative word there.

"Oh." He thought it through quickly, but not quite quickly enough to stop the immediate answer that sprung to his lips. "Twelve."

He could see the gears start to turn in Sam's head, like he was running through the checklist himself. Juliana, obviously, first love and all that. Just as obvious, and thankfully more immediate, was Deathbird. Tabitha, he remembered with a grimace, which no one involved wanted to remember. He'd definitely broken rule one with _that_ debacle. Dani and Illyana, of course, because it would have been impossible to grow up with them and _not_ fall slightly in love. And Amara, which. Okay. Slight disaster, but still, one half of a love that poets would sing about. Storm, but anyone who could see her and not have their heart beat faster must not have had a heart to begin with. Likewise with Domino - or was it Copycat? Hell they both counted, why not. Siryn, though he was probably way out of _her_ league. And of course he'd bantered enough with Sam during their time as Avengers not to even pretend that he wasn't a _little_ in love with Captain Marvel. That just left…

"No. Actually, eleven." He corrected his course at least, even if he did muddy the truth. He felt a pang of guilt at that - he had no issue lying to Sam, of course, truth got in the way of his (entirely earned) ego often enough that he had few qualms about twisting it, but this… Maybe it was the space booze. Maybe it was the space adrenaline. 

Maybe it was the fact that The Five could resurrect him a thousand times over, and every day without hi… his _best friend_ would feel like a death of its own.

But it was probably the just space booze.

"No. Wait. Twelve," he said, and meant it.

Sam laughed, a quiet, gentle, chuckle that crinkled the corners of his eyes, not that Roberto could bring himself to look at them. Instead his own eyes travelled everywhere else, from Sam's mess of a mop, to his strong jaw, to the gap in his front teeth, his _okay-for-a-white-boy_ lips, the freckles that covered his nose, and ending up… 

Damn.

Roberto let out a wry chuckle of his own as their eyes locked, and his heart turned to stone. Maybe in another universe, he thought, where one or both of them had been smarter. Here, now, in the good ol' six-one-six (was that still right?), Roberto had settled firmly in his role as a joker. Maybe Sam knew. Maybe he didn't. Hell, it wasn't like Roberto had been honest with himself about for all these years.

Still, as he gazed into Sam's icy blue eyes, the sounds of the party behind them fading into a distant blur, and the skyline of a beautiful space city around them, he knew honesty wasn't in the cards any time soon. At least, not about the big things.

"Yeah," he breathed, "it's twelve."

And they left it at that.


End file.
